Machinerie Yvon Quotes

Who are businesses really responsible to? Their customers? Shareholders? Employees? We would argue that it's none of the above. Fundamentally, businesses are responsible to their resource base. Without a healthy environment there are no shareholders, no employees, no customers and no business. ~ Yvon Chouinard

If you want to understand the entrepreneur, study the juvenile delinquent. The delinquent is saying with his actions, This sucks. I'm going to do my own thing. ~ Yvon Chouinard

Everything we personally own that's made, sold, shipped, stored, cleaned, and ultimately thrown away does some environmental harm every step of the way, harm that we're either directly responsible for or is done on our behalf. ~ Yvon Chouinard

The future of Yosemite climbing lies not in Yosemite, but in using the new techniques in the great granite ranges of the world. ~ Yvon Chouinard

There's no such thing as sustainability. There are just levels of it. It's a process, not a real goal. All you can do is work toward it. There's no such thing as any sustainable economy. The only thing I know that's even close to sustainable economic activity would be organic farming on a very small scale or hunting and gathering on a very small scale. And manufacturing, you end up with way more waste than you end up with finished product. It's totally unsustainable. It's just the way it is. ~ Yvon Chouinard

I never wanted to be a businessman; I was a craftsman and good at working with my hands. At some point, I decided that this company is my best resource. Patagonia now exists to put into practice all the things that smart people are saying we have to do not only to save the planet but to save the economy. ~ Yvon Chouinard

Is climbing, as a passion and as a sport, better off now than it was in the past? We can do harder climbs now in faster times - techniques are more refined and equipement more sophisticated - but are we really any better off? ~ Yvon Chouinard

Real adventure is defined best as a journey from which you may not come back alive, and certainly not as the same person. ~ Yvon Chouinard

Yeah, leading an examined life, I always say, is a pain in the ass. It adds an element of complexity to business that most businessmen don't want to hear about. They just want to call a fabric manufacturer, and say, "Hey, give us 10,000 yards of shirting." ~ Yvon Chouinard

A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both. ~ Yvon Chouinard

But I'm really trying to run this company like it is going to be here a hundred years from now. That's what's important. ~ Yvon Chouinard

What they don't realize is that I'm not in the business to make clothes. I'm not in the business to make more money for myself, for Christ's sake. This is the reason Patagonia exists - to put into action the recommendations I read about in books to avoid environmental collapse. That's the reason I'm in business - to try to clean up our own act, and try to influence other companies to do the right thing, and try to influence our customers to do the right thing. So we're not going to change. ~ Yvon Chouinard

The rules of the game must be constantly updated to keep up with the expanding technology. Otherwise we overkill the classic climbs and delude ourselves into thinking we are better climbers than the pioneers. ~ Yvon Chouinard

I've always thought of myself as an 80 percenter. I like to throw myself passionately into a sport or activity until I reach about an 80 percent proficiency level. To go beyond that requires an obsession that doesn't appeal to me. Once I reach 80 percent level I like to go off and do something totally different; that probably explains the diversity of the Patagonia product like - and why our versatile, multifaceted clothes are the most successful. ~ Yvon Chouinard

During the sixties, all the risk-type sports were very popular, because everybody was rebelling against their parents, or rebelling against the whole system. But those days are over. This is the day of conservatism. ~ Yvon Chouinard

True adventure begins when everything goes wrong. ~ Yvon Chouinard

... the worst thing said about him is that he was uncurious. ~ Yvon Chouinard

The more I make the more I can give away. ~ Yvon Chouinard

It's okay to be eccentric if you're rich; otherwise you're just crazy. ~ Yvon Chouinard

The goal of climbing big, dangerous mountains should be to attain some sort of spiritual and personal growth, but this won't happen if you compromise away the entire process. ~ Yvon Chouinard

The whole purpose of climbing something like Everest is to effect some sort of spiritual and physical gain. But if you compromise the process you're an asshole when you start out and an asshole when you get back. ~ Yvon Chouinard

I drive old cars, all my Patagonia clothes are years and years old, I hardly have anything new. I try to lead a very simple life. I am not a consumer of anything. And I much prefer sleeping on somebody's floor than in a motel room. ~ Yvon Chouinard

When I die and go to hell, the devil is going to make me the marketing director for a cola company. I'll be in charge of trying to sell a product that no one needs, is identical to its competition, and can't be sold on its merits. I'd be competing head-on in the cola wars, on price, distribution, advertising, and promotion, which would indeed be hell for me. Remember, I'm the kid who couldn't play competitive games. I'd much rather design and sell products so good and unique that they have no competition. ~ Yvon Chouinard

So all of these companies that are going for the big growth, if it continues for any length of time, will outlast their resources and outlast their customers and go belly-up. And that's why these huge companies have massive layoffs all the time. ~ Yvon Chouinard

I think risk is important. I don't care if it's a great financial risk or a physical risk. You only get out of something what you put into it and the fact that you are willing to risk something means that you are going to get a lot more out of it. ~ Yvon Chouinard

The revolution starts at the bottom. ~ Yvon Chouinard

You have to remember this was the '60s, when climbing was dangerous and sex was safe. ~ Yvon Chouinard

The more you know, the less you need. ~ Yvon Chouinard

You climb to the summit and there is nothing there ... ~ Yvon Chouinard

I'm kind of like a samurai. They say if you want to be a samurai, you can't be afraid of dying, and as soon as you flinch, you get your head cut off. I'm not afraid of losing this business. ~ Yvon Chouinard